


as inevitable as gravity

by perfectlyrose



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Costume Parties & Masquerades, F/M, First Meetings, Universe Alteration
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-21 09:05:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11354238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectlyrose/pseuds/perfectlyrose
Summary: Rose is fascinated by the stranger in a multicolored coat who walks into a fancy dress party at Jack's flat but doesn't seem to be there to have fun.





	as inevitable as gravity

**Author's Note:**

> written for a prompt over at doctorroseprompts

Rose took a pull from her bottle of cider, watching her friends making general fools of themselves on what they had dubbed the dance floor. It was honestly just Jack’s living room rug, now devoid of furniture but still in the middle of the room. 

Someone had made a rule about an hour ago that if you were on the rug you had to be dancing and so now people had to dance across the room to get to the door or the kitchen. She’d done it herself a few times already but was taking a breather. She giggled as whoever was dressed in a full-on dinosaur suit danced up to a mermaid and started to sway with her, blocking the only clear path across the rug.

“Excuse me, you’re in my way.”

Rose couldn’t see who was talking, blocked by the dinosaur as he was, but he sounded remarkably sober for someone at one of Jack’s parties.

“Dude! You’re on the rug, you have to dance.”

“I have to do nothing of the sort.”

She finally caught sight of the man causing the non-party related ruckus for just a second, glimpsing a mop of blonde curls and a mulish expression. She shook her head and headed out to the dance floor to save the stranger.

Rose sidestepped the dinosaur tail and slid just out of reach of a handsy cowboy before coming to a stop in front of the blonde man who was dressed in a very loud, colorful, and inexplicable costume.

“Come on then,” she half-shouted over the music as she grabbed his hand. “If you stay on the dance floor, they’ll make you dance.”

She pulled him after her, shimmying her way off the dance rug so she was still complying by the house rules.

“Alright then, who are you supposed to be?” she asked the stranger once they were in a slightly quieter corner.

The man’s chest puffed up a bit, pulling Rose’s attention to the cat brooch pinned to one lapel and the question marks embroidered on his shirt collar. “I’m the Doctor.”

“And who’s he when he’s at home?” Rose asked with a laugh.

He harrumphed, looking somewhat put out.

“Oh come on, I was just teasing,” she said, pushing lightly on his shoulder. She didn’t know what it was about this man but she really wanted him to smile at her. “I just don’t recognize your costume.”

“Costume?” He looked around like he was taking in the fact that he was at a fancy dress party for the first time and then looked her up and down. “Right, costume. No, I rather don’t think you would. It’s a bit obscure.”

Rose cocked an eyebrow. “If you say so.”

“I do say so. Might I also say that you make a very wonderful pirate.”

“You may indeed, good Doctor,” she said, tipping her tri-cornered hat at him slightly.

That pulled a smile out of the man and Rose was delighted with the way it lit up his face.

“Do you want a drink? I speak from experience when I say that it’s not that fun to be the only sober one at a party, especially when it’s Jack’s party,” Rose said.

His expression slipped back to something like a scowl. “Where is Harkness, anyways?”

“Umm, probably in his room with Ianto. I wouldn’t bother them.”

The Doctor huffed. “Typical.”

“I can probably get you whatever you need, I’m over here often enough since Jack’s my best mate,” Rose offered.

“I don’t think you can, but thank you.” He tugged on the lapels of his coat. “Now, it was lovely to meet you but I must be going.”

“But you just got here!” she protested. “I don’t even know who you are!”

“I told you, I’m the Doctor.”

“And I’m Anne Bonny,” she shot back.

He rolled his eyes and started towards the door, stomping across the dance floor to a chorus of yells once again. Rose was right on his heels and the moment they were in the hallway outside of Jack’s flat, she managed to pull him to a halt.

“Oi, a little explanation would be nice,” she said.

“You didn’t have to follow me,” he pointed out.

“But I did, didn’t I? So, spill. What’s going on?”

“I got rerouted to this timezone and particular location  _ again _ and I’m positive that Harkness has something to do with it. I would like to be able to get back to traveling on my own terms.”

“Timezone? How do you just accidentally end up in London?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” he said, voice thick with frustration.

“You’re not making any sense.” Rose felt like she probably should have exited this conversation back in Jack’s flat but this man seemed to have his own gravity that pulled her in.

“I’m making perfect sense, you’re just not keeping up.” He turned on his heel and walked towards the staircase.

“Oi! No need to be rude!” Rose said, following behind him again.

“And no need to follow me.”

“I can do what I like.”

“And that’s following strangers around?”

“Well, in that outfit you probably need some protection,” she snarked. His costume was even more garish out in the light of streetlamps than it had been back in the flat.

“My pirate savior,” he shot back, matching her sarcasm.

“That’s me, saving you from dance floors and your terrible fashion choices.”

They reached the bottom of the stairs and he turned to face her, a mixture of curiosity and agitation etched into his features. “Who  _ are _ you?”

“My name’s Rose.”

“And you said Jack was your best friend?”

Rose crossed her arms over her chest. “Yeah, what of it?”

“Do you have any idea what he does for a living?”

“Does something with the government. Doesn’t talk about it much though,” she answered.

“And you don’t work there?” The Doctor stepped closer to her, peering down at Rose like the answers to his questions could be divined from her facial expressions. 

“I work at a shop, mate, hardly any classified government activity going on there,” Rose scoffed.

“Then why are you following me if you don’t work for UNIT or Torchwood or one of those other annoyances they have in this time?”

“First off, I still don’t know what you’re on about. Second, I’m following because you’re being  _ really _ weird.”

“I have an idea. Come with me, please.” He took off walking, not bothering to see if she was going to actually follow this time or not.

“You can’t just order me around, you know,” Rose said, skipping forward to walk next to him. “You haven’t even introduced yourself properly.”

“I’m the Doctor.”

“That’s not a proper name.”

“It’s my name but I don’t make any promises about propriety.”

“Alright, Doctor,” Rose said, hoping he could somehow sense her eyeroll, “where are we going?”

“My ship. I think she keeps bringing me back here to find something or someone and since I can’t shake you off for some reason, maybe it’s you.”

“Ship? I may be dressed like a pirate but I’m not exactly ready to go to sea?”

“Not that kind of ship.”

Rose peppered him with more questions but he refused to answer any more. They turned a corner a few blocks away and were suddenly right in front of a blue police box in the middle of an alley.

“She definitely sounds pleased about something,” the Doctor muttered.

Rose was considering the fact that she may well have followed a complete nutter into a London alley when he swung open the door of the police box to reveal a room that definitely should not have fit inside the small structure.

“Wh-what?’

“No time for that, come in,” he said. The Doctor grabbed her hand and pulled her inside.

Rose was wide-eyed as he practically ran to the center control console. There was a bright humming noise all around her and she was having a hard time concentrating.

“Rose?”

“Hmm?” she shook her head, blinked, and suddenly the Doctor was right in front of her, hand on her shoulder and concerned look on his face.

“Are you alright? I know the TARDIS can be a bit of a shock but I’ve never seen someone go blank like that.”

“The humming,” she said, pressing a hand to her ear, “it’s a bit much.”

“The humming…” he furrowed his brow and then backed off, glaring at the ceiling. “I know you seem rather excited for some reason but you’re overwhelming our guest.”

The sensation spiked for a second and then backed off to something akin to background noise.

“Don’t think we won’t talk about this later,” he muttered before turning back to Rose to address her. “Better?” he asked.

“Better. Now, where the hell are we and what was that?”

“The TARDIS. Best time and space machine in the universe,” he boasted. “Answer to both of your questions.”

“You have a time machine.”

“Yes.”

“Are you telling me that what you’re wearing is actually fashionable at some point in time?”

“I tell you I have a time machine and you want to harp on my clothing?” he sputtered.

“Think I do, yeah.”

He ran back to the console and shot a slightly wild smile her way. “Well, I think I’ll have to show you something impressive to get your mind off my clothes.”

The Doctor pressed a few buttons and then pulled a lever, sending them wheeling off into time and space.

When someone told Jack that Rose had chased after some bloke in a lurid, multicolored coat as he left the party, he laughed and laughed. It was really only a matter of time before Rose and the Doctor had met, he was just sad to have missed it.


End file.
